caps, and the mismanagement of bullets: besides which, he cannot bear hunger, thirst, or cold.
The third is one Abdi Abokr, also of the Habr Girhajis, a personage whom, from his smattering of learning and his prodigious rascality, we call the Mulla "End of Time."[1] He is a man about forty, very old-looking for his age, with small, deep-set cunning eyes, placed close together, a hook nose, a thin beard, a bulging brow, scattered teeth,[2] and a short scant figure, remarkable only for length of back. His gait is stealthy, like a cat's, and he has a villanous grin. This worthy never prays, and can neither read nor write; but he knows a chapter or two of the Koran, recites audibly a long Ratib or task, morning and evening,[3] whence, together with his store of hashed Hadis (tradition), he derives the title of Widad or hedge-priest. His tongue, primed with the satirical sayings of Abn Zayd al-Halali, and Humayd ibn Mansur,[4] is the terror of men upon whom repartee imposes. His father was a wealthy shipowner in his day; but, cursed with Abdi and another son, the old man has lost all his property, his children have deserted him, and he now depends entirely upon the charity of the Zayla chief. The "End of Time" has squandered considerable sums in travelling far and wide from Harar to Cutch, he has managed everywhere to
- ↑ Abdi is an abbreviation of Abdullah; Abokr, a corruption of Abu Bakr. The "End of Time" alludes to the prophesied corruption of the Moslem priesthood in the last epoch of the world.
- ↑ This peculiarity is not uncommon amongst the Somal; it is considered by them a sign of warm temperament.
- ↑ The Moslem should first recite the Farz prayers, or those ordered in the Koran; secondly, the Sunnat or practice of the Prophet; and thirdly the Nafilah or Supererogatory. The Ratib or self-imposed task is the last of all; our Mulla placed it first, because he could chant it upon his mule within hearing of the people.
- ↑ Two modern poets and wits well known in Al-Yaman.
